Joanna Macy
American eco-philosopher, scholar of Buddhism, and translator of Rilke. A pioneer of "Deep Ecology" and the "Work That Reconnects," Macy has spent six decades teaching that grief for the world is the gateway to action for the world. Her translations of Rilke (with Anita Barrows) brought a generation of seekers to a contemplative German poet, and her own books — World as Lover World as Self, Coming Back to Life, Active Hope — gave the modern environmental movement a contemplative core.
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quotes in library
Quotes by Joanna Macy
106 quotes“Compassion is the doorway to power.”
compassionActive Hope
“To stay open in difficult times is the deepest practice.”
opennessComing Back to Life
“The heart is bigger than the news.”
heartActive Hope
“Wonder is the mother of all wisdom.”
wonderWorld as Lover, World as Self
“To know is to love. To love is to act.”
knowingActive Hope
“What we have lost has not left us. It lives in our bones.”
lossIn Praise of Mortality
“In each act of healing, we heal the world.”
healingComing Back to Life
“Despair, like grief, is a doorway.”
despairWorld as Lover, World as Self
“The Earth is a school. We are all students.”
earthActive Hope
“Listen to the trees. They have lived longer than we have.”
listeningWorld as Lover, World as Self
“To act on behalf of life is to be alive in the deepest sense.”
actionActive Hope
“Reconnection is medicine for the world.”
reconnectionComing Back to Life
“The mind likes to know. The heart likes to love. Both are needed.”
balanceActive Hope
“Every breath is a gift from the trees.”
breathWorld as Lover, World as Self
“To be a human is to be a node of awareness in the great web.”
awarenessComing Back to Life
“The deepest part of us is the part that loves.”
loveActive Hope
“In the face of climate grief, presence is the practice.”
griefComing Back to Life
“To imagine a future is the first act of creation.”
imaginationActive Hope
“Trust the body. Trust the breath. Trust the earth.”
trustComing Back to Life
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